"ntor… you do not need to go to such lengths!" Desmond was tearing up upon seeing Eli's protectiveness.
"Tell what really happened so that I would know the next thing to do." Eli shook her head and patted Desmond's shoulders encouraging him to talk.
In reality, she could solve the matter by simply forcing Desmond not to participate.
However, she knew that will trample on Desmond's pride and determination. This is his one and only chance to turn his life over, not only as a student but as a musician.
The fact that he decided to not tell her what was happening and go through the competition tells everything about his own conviction, which Eli had no heart to hinder.
And so she also decided to be stubborn with her student.
She will ensure that she will get to the bottom of this, even if it ans using her connections with the Imperial Family!
Desmond bit his lips and resigned to his fate, he knew that there was no choice but to tell Eli now that she had gotten Raya to call on a bunch of people.
"ntor, in truth, we did not even know how it happened… You have been looking at this suspicious reddish-purple dot in my right hand… I did not know when or where I had been pricked by sothing either."
"I felt no pain at all, not even a sensation. I only noticed that the strength on my fingers was gone when Raya handed a glass of water earlier…"
Eli's eyes went sharper and sharper, as she contemplated while listening to Desmond's explanation.
"Do you rember if soone bumped into you along the way?" Eli asked.
Usually, these kinds of wounds can be easily inflicted especially if the victim was physically distracted. This was also the sa tactic used by thieves and criminals in the modern world.
"On our way here in the auditorium, it was extrely crowded, and so I have indeed bumped into a lot of people along the way…" Desmond shook his head. Even if they found out the cause of the incident, it would be impossible to identify who the culprit was.
"Alright. Thank you for telling everything. Now just sit there and relax…" Eli nodded and gave Desmond a look of assurance.
In just a few monts, several people had already crowded the waiting room, Raya successfully summoned everyone and even the jury and the tournant physician into the place.
This caused a lot of the ntors and pianists to pay attention to what was happening.
"What's the matter, Lady Eli? To call us all in here and delay the entire tournant, how urgent and important the matter was?" An irate mber of the jury imdiately asked Eli.
In his tone and expression, there was an unmasked hint of disdain and hostility in his eyes.
Eli on the other hand remained unshaken, the intimidation given by the mber of the jury like a child's threat in her eyes, especially when she rembered how strict and even more difficult the n in the business world were.
In her voice that carried coldness and a strong sense of justice, Eli replied, "I ask the dear organizers and the head jury to conduct an investigation imdiately. For my student was victimized by a malicious trap!"
"Huh? An investigation? Malicious trap? Lady, I know of your prestige and accolades, but please do not think that the people in the music world regard your identity in high regard.
Who are you to ask those at such a ti like this? You know very well that you are causing the disturbance in the proceedings!"
The mber of the jury righteously blurted out.
"Why not?! My student's right hand is numb! I suspect that it was most likely caused by poison! Tell if not for malicious intent, who would dare to do this kind of thing to my student at such a ti like this?" She then gestured to Desmond to approach the doctor and have his hands diagnosed.
But even before the head jury answered and the doctor announced his diagnosis, the mber of the jury retaliated once again.
"Hah! With all due respect, Lady Eli… this matter is not sothing that is worthy of the tournant being postponed!
Besides, what happened to your dear student was not sothing that our tournant should care about… for if we address everything that happened to ill students then we will never proceed in this tournant!
It is the participant's responsibility to ensure that they will join the tournant in their best condition!"
While the rest of the ntors and contestants gloated happily at the jury's response, Eli, the attending doctor and the rest of the jury frowned at the statent.
"So dear jury, you are saying that even if the students were deliberately assaulted along the way, it was still the victim's fault for being an easy target?" Eli answered in a dangerously low town.
"What?! How could you twist my words that way?!" The jury was taken aback by how Eli interpreted his statent and imdiately denied everything.
"Stop…" The head jury finally intervened and looked at the attending physician, "What is the student's condition?"
He knew that the longer Eli and his mbers argued, the more ti would be wasted and so, he needed to know what really happened to Desmond so that he could think of a better way to handle the situation.
"Head jury, it is as Lady Eli has claid. This student was poisoned with a considerable amount of Arid Spider venom. If he remains untreated, he would not only remain numb on his right hand, he would beco a cripple!" The doctor said,
"Then imdiately give him the dication!" The chairman of the jury waved his hands and imdiately asked the doctor to treat Desmond.
He then turned to Eli and said,
"As for the investigation of this matter we will surely do that, but it would be after the tournant as I am afraid that my colleague is right about saying that this problem should not cause the delay of the contest. This also ans that should student Desmond's turn co up and he was not ready to play, he would lose by default."
"Chairman, on what grounds would your statent be?" Eli calmly asked.
"On the grounds that we cannot identify if it was negligence on your side, or it was a deliberate attempt to delay the tournant… hardly a malicious attack from what I see." The Chairman replied in all honesty.
"That's right! Even if he was poisoned, who knows whether you deliberately did this to delay the tournant?!" The mber jury echoed.
Eli let out a light scoff, barely containing her temper. She looked at the Chairman and paid no attention to the noisy jury and asked.
"So.. if I was able to prove to you that this matter was a malicious attack. Will you postpone the tournant until we get to the bottom of the investigations?"
The head jury raised his eyebrows taking Eli's question as a haughty challenge.
He then waved his hand nonchalantly and looked at Eli, "Well then, if the lady can prove it right at this mont, then the entire jury will apologize to you and comnce the investigation on the spot!"
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